Need to discourage coralline

GrampaDon · 01/09/2009, 07:32 PM

Hard to believe i know. My tank is a acrylic 60x24x20 with
4 t5 HOs on softies. And its purple everywhere. But the problem is cleaning the acrylic with out of control coralline.

calcium -380 range
alk -8 range

Since coralline prefer low light [generaly]
Would adding more light actually slow it down. ?
With the added benifit of getting better growth from my softies.?

Any suggestions.

KyleO · 01/09/2009, 07:40 PM

Increasing your lighting will definitely slow down the Coraline. You might want to think about an spiny urchin..........they will keep the Coraline at bay without having to make any changes to your lighting scheme.

I have one that gets moved in between my 3 tanks.........keeps all of them from the Coraline taking over. I have a lot of LR so this guy gets his fill.

eb8919 · 01/09/2009, 08:07 PM

+1 on the urchin

GrampaDon · 01/09/2009, 08:09 PM

Would'nt the urchin then spend most of the day on my liverock ?

Im not against the idea at all. I have 95-100lbs in a 125gal.
I guess having some coralline is nice. But it is damm hard to keep the acrylic tank scraped clean with the plastic scrapers you need to use.

tkeracer619 · 01/09/2009, 08:19 PM

Strong magfloat, magnavor, tigershark, with a dobie cleaning pad (yellow foam with plastic mesh liner at grocery store for dish washing) works well. Take the foam out and use the mesh as the inside magnet pad. Weekly wipe downs and a kent scraper for the bottom edge will keep you coraline and stress free.

KyleO · 01/09/2009, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by rockon
Would'nt the urchin then spend most of the day on my liverock ?

Im not against the idea at all. I have 95-100lbs in a 125gal.
I guess having some coralline is nice. But it is damm hard to keep the acrylic tank scraped clean with the plastic scrapers you need to use.

He goes wherever the Coraline is............LR, glass, etc....

mc-cro · 01/09/2009, 09:52 PM

I dont have acrylic, but I have heard that urchins will leave scratches in the acrlic.

I would say switch to MH. I went from scraping coraline once a week on my glass to havent even seen coraline on my display in years since switching.

i do have coraline growing in my skimmer and fuge under regular NO lights though, so I know my system can grow it

KyleO · 01/09/2009, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mc-cro
I dont have acrylic, but I have heard that urchins will leave scratches in the acrlic.

I would say switch to MH. I went from scraping coraline once a week on my glass to havent even seen coraline on my display in years since switching.

i do have coraline growing in my skimmer and fuge under regular NO lights though, so I know my system can grow it

I agree that MH lighting is the best option...........my Nano cut way back on Coraline when I installed the MH.

I was just trying to give reasonable alternatives with the Urchin. Not sure about the scratching, but they very well might.

sundancer · 01/10/2009, 12:25 AM

When I switched from T5 to halides last year all my coraline at the upper half of the tank bleached white and hair algae began to take a foothold. It's better now after I decreased the wattage to 4x250w. Moral here is keep an eye on the light increase.

01/09/2009, 07:32 PM	#1
GrampaDon Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Fort Wayne ,IN Posts: 636	Need to discourage coralline Hard to believe i know. My tank is a acrylic 60x24x20 with 4 t5 HOs on softies. And its purple everywhere. But the problem is cleaning the acrylic with out of control coralline. calcium -380 range alk -8 range Since coralline prefer low light [generaly] Would adding more light actually slow it down. ? With the added benifit of getting better growth from my softies.? Any suggestions.

01/09/2009, 07:40 PM	#2
KyleO Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Brentwood, CA (SF Bay Area) Posts: 737	Increasing your lighting will definitely slow down the Coraline. You might want to think about an spiny urchin..........they will keep the Coraline at bay without having to make any changes to your lighting scheme. I have one that gets moved in between my 3 tanks.........keeps all of them from the Coraline taking over. I have a lot of LR so this guy gets his fill. __________________ Enjoy every moment......you don't have nearly as many left as you think!!! Current Tank Info: 135g Frag tank w/ attached 30ga Cube and 50ga refugium

01/09/2009, 08:07 PM	#3
eb8919 Reefaholic Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 542	+1 on the urchin __________________ A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new. -A. Einstein

01/09/2009, 08:19 PM	#5
tkeracer619 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Westminster, CO Posts: 17,289	Strong magfloat, magnavor, tigershark, with a dobie cleaning pad (yellow foam with plastic mesh liner at grocery store for dish washing) works well. Take the foam out and use the mesh as the inside magnet pad. Weekly wipe downs and a kent scraper for the bottom edge will keep you coraline and stress free. __________________ Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k.

01/09/2009, 09:52 PM	#7
mc-cro (macro) Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 2,238	I dont have acrylic, but I have heard that urchins will leave scratches in the acrlic. I would say switch to MH. I went from scraping coraline once a week on my glass to havent even seen coraline on my display in years since switching. i do have coraline growing in my skimmer and fuge under regular NO lights though, so I know my system can grow it __________________ Time is the most valuable thing you have... spend it wisely Current Tank Info: 60x26x24 AGE 3 sided starphire

01/09/2009, 08:09 PM	#4
GrampaDon Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Fort Wayne ,IN Posts: 636	Would'nt the urchin then spend most of the day on my liverock ? Im not against the idea at all. I have 95-100lbs in a 125gal. I guess having some coralline is nice. But it is damm hard to keep the acrylic tank scraped clean with the plastic scrapers you need to use.

01/10/2009, 12:25 AM	#9
sundancer Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: San Francisco Posts: 373	When I switched from T5 to halides last year all my coraline at the upper half of the tank bleached white and hair algae began to take a foothold. It's better now after I decreased the wattage to 4x250w. Moral here is keep an eye on the light increase.